Alchemist for hire: The soul stone
by poisonliz
Summary: Kimiya is odd even for an alchemist. Shes been hired to stop a madman. Joined by the redhaired pirates, Mihawk and others who all want revenge. But things are never as they seem. Its now a race against time to stop the man destroying the world or worse.
1. Prologue Kimiya

**Hi probably no one will read this so... Some of you may have been reading my other story 'Is there a world where friends really matter?' and I'm still trying to write that but I've reached a massive block at the moment so bare with me. Ok so this is my new story. It's a lot like the other one in that it's slow to get into but I think it's pretty good. Please tell me honestly what you think although constructive critisism would be better than just saying something mean. And I will try to carry on with my Other story. Lizzy X**

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If you were to pass her on the street you would not look twice. Kimiya had the appearance of the most normal teenage girl going through the rebellious stage. She stuck to her black and white clothes as though her life depended upon it. She prided herself in her stylish non conforming clothes. A long white jumper with the arms cut off was used as a dress, held to her waist by a black belt with a large gold star as the buckle. Thigh length black socks with a skull at the top of them. Knee length white leg warmers that covered the tops of her platform shoes and mismatching fingerless gloves, one white one black. Her hair was pulled up into bunches and tied with skull bobbles. It was her look, the rebel fashion. If however you were to look back at Kimiya, to get to know her, the word normal would never again cross your lips. Kimiya was anything but normal. She was a twenty year old woman who looked like she was fourteen, admittedly she was a very shapely woman but even this did not change how young she looked. Her face remained that of a child, wide piercing gold eyes that could search the soul, full lips and pale skin. She could have been mistaken for a five foot porcelain doll. But her looks did not even scratch the surface of her weird life.

She stared at the office door. Maybe if she stared for long enough it would burn a hole through the window and scare the tyrant on the other side to death. She did not want to step through that door because she knew what was coming.

"Kimiya Lavethlyne." The receptionist shouted after receiving a bored sounding message on the intercom. She was praying for something, anything to happen so she would not have to face him. She reached the door and paused for half a minute. Her eyes wandered the room. Perhaps if she waited for three minutes she would not have to enter that room, maybe something would happen preventing her from entering. By this time many of the people waiting in the reception had fixed their eyes on the young woman.

"I'm going in." She whispered her voice full of despair. The door squealed in protest as she opened it. The room was simple. A royal blue carpet, a desk, large windows that covered the entire wall and bookshelves full of old leather bound books. Her eyes wandered around the room and then remained fixed just beyond the desk where a large muscular man sat. His body was barely contained in the pin striped suit he wore. His hair was as dark as midnight and his eyes matched, dark hollow eyes. He looked tired. Dark bags lay under his eyes, they did not seem to fit his usually smirking face but she understood, she knew why they were there.

"I asked you to hand in your monthly review a week ago, so where is it?" He did not bother looking at her. He never looked at her. He had always disliked her for reasons that she did not know.

"There was no point handing it in." She answered in an uninterested tone. The man slammed his fist down on the table making the little prism sign on his desk rock back and forth. The engraved words 'Chief of maintenance and employee affairs' flashed violently as the prism slowly rocked back to its original position. Admittedly it was a strange title but 'employee affairs' was a major part of the work that she was a part of.

"Listen, you may think you're better than the rest of us Ms Lavethlyne but I can assure you you're not. Now tell me why the HELL you did not hand in your review!" He was shaking with anger. His large fists pushed down into the wood of the table.

"No one has requested my service and I have no permanent employment. A review would have been a waste of both of our time."

"No requests. Hm, how long has it been Kimiya? I would say half a year at least. You realise if this keeps on your going to starve to death. We can't keep giving money to people who can't pull their own weight." She did not flinch nor did she look away embarrassed. Kimiya was a proud woman and she was good at what she did but the world was changing, people no longer had a need for her kind. "You are dismissed." At that he turned away from her, a look of disgust on his face.

*

She sprawled out on her bed and flipped the pages of the thick leather bound book entitled 'Miracles?' It had been a book she was studying for her work, after all an alchemist must learn all they can in case an emergency should arise. She was naturally gifted at her job to an extent. The science of the earth was something she just understood instinctively. She would never admit that she was powerful but for her age she had an implausible amount power. However this power was both a blessing and a curse. While others her age would fall early in a battle she would be able to carry on for hours but this also meant that she had to use a lot of alchemy on a daily basis. Alchemists, as anyone who has studied them knows, have a hamster like ability, they can store weeks upon months worth of energy which aids them in transmutations. But when an alchemist does not use their alchemy for a while it can be fatal. The energy causes their hearts to beat faster than an average human, the faster their heart beats the more chance they have of having of a heart attack. That was one of the primary reasons why people claimed that learning to be an alchemist was like sealing your life into a coffin and burying it. Alchemists live only to transmute. Most alchemists would also stay away from the 'Alchemists Guild of International and Internal Affairs' also known as 'Alchemists for hire'. The alchemists guild, to put it bluntly, was a sure fire way of selling your life and soul. Once an alchemist was accepted into the guild they cannot leave. Any alchemist that runs away from the guild are hunted down and assassinated, imprisoned or forced back into their job. The guild allows no one to double cross them. Kimiya had originally joined to get money for her mother after she had fallen ill. She had known from the tender age of five that she was gifted. So unknowingly, without doing any research on the guild she had signed her soul away at the age of eight. She had become the youngest alchemist in the world and for a while she had been a star (though the circle of those who know the existence of alchemists was so small that celebrity status would be impossible), the guild gave her money and this money helped care for her sick mother. But alas her mother had died a year later and she was now bound and chained to the guild and had been for twelve years. The alchemy was the reason why her body was not as old as it should have been. As we all know taking in too much energy causes the body to naturally slow the aging process and so she would spend the next twelve or so years trapped in the body of a child, this is of course assuming that her powers did not grow any more, if they did then she would be spending twenty to one hundred years trapped in the body of a teenager.

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"Yes. Yes. Yes I know that but it is urgent. Is there anyone?" The Marine admiral leaned back in his chair, the Den Den Mushi held in his hand. The bird on top of his head flapped its wings once, balanced itself according to the captain's new position and then remained in its previous fixed position. "Well yes they would have to be strong." He scratched his chin and scribbled a few words down. "As long as they can fight. Well yes it would be a difficult fight I presume. No there will be others. No, pirates. Wait. No, please understand I really do need an alchemist. I'll pay anything. Yes, that's what I said, anything. Well no that is a bit extreme. What about I hire an alchemist for a fixed period, would that suit you better? No I suppose not. Are they? Well that would be ok. Really, how experienced? That is a long time. Oh no that's a bit too old. That sounds more like it. Yes. Yes. Oh no certainly not." He scribbled down a few names and put the paper and pen on the table. "I will send a letter immediately. No we can sort that out when she arrives. Oh that's perfect. Yes I can send a crew over to collect her. Thank you. Yes. Goodbye." 'Cotcha' The Marine admiral sighed. Now all he needed to do was send the letter to the woman. "I'll have to check to see if there are any marine's ships in that direction." The man huffed, stood up and exited the room with an exhausted look on his face. He could not believe that he had to employ the pirates to take care of one man. Though in its own way it was brilliant. Pirates did not fight fairly and could defeat this mad man without losing their honour. The marines of the more powerful squads believed in honour over their own lives and for many this is how they lost their lives to that man.

"Dear Miss Kimiya Lavethlyne, 1st class ranking of Albertus Magnus alchemists.

I am writing to request your immediate aid. I wish to hire you for a period of ___ weeks/ months/ years. I intend to pay you _____ Beri for your service. If you accept this request please send a letter of confirmation back immediately. If this request is declined please send this letter to the Alchemists guild of international and internal affairs immediately.

Yours Faithfully

Chief Admiral Sengoku."

"So, no fixed price? No time limit?" The woman behind the bar asked.

"No." Kimiya sipped at the coke in front of her. "It seems a little off don't you think?"

"Maybe but he sounds desperate." Kimiya sighed and stirred the drink with her straw. "The Marines are trustworthy people; it's unlikely that they would go back on a promise."

"I suppose so. The fact that this person would give me free reign over my own pay and time of hire is inconceivable though. I wonder, is this person really Admiral Sengoku." At these words an old man dropped his glass to the floor, shattering it into millions of tiny glimmering pieces. As the shattering sound was heard many of the other customers stared at him but his eyes remained in a fixed, wide position, staring straight at Kimiya. "Sir, are you alright." She asked. He showed no signs of recognising that anyone was speaking to him.

"The Chief Admiral Sengoku." Others who had stopped to watch the man also gasped, turning fully and listening with interest. "He is one of the highest men in the marines." Now it was Kimiya's turn to be shocked. She had been requested by one of the highest men in the marines? "If he has contacted you he must have no other choice." There was a murmur of agreement through the silent bar.

"I guess I should go then. Wow who would have thought... the marines?" She finished her coke in one gulp, waved goodbye to the bar tender and thanked the old man for his help (though he seemed unresponsive.)

"Dear Chief Admiral Sengoku, I am writing back in confirmation... No that sounds wrong... This is a confirmation letter... I am confirming... I agree... Why can't I do this?" Kimiya exclaimed launching the pen across the room like a missile. "Ok here goes. Dear Chief Admiral Sengoku, this letter is a confirmation. I am ready to begin my mission at any point. Please send transport as I am unable to reach the world government by myself. Yours Faithfully. Kimiya Lavethlyne. How's that?" She held the letter up to the light, gave it a sceptical look and shoved it into the envelope. "Well it's only a confirmation letter."

"Sir we've just been given word that 'he' has killed another person." The chief admiral sighed angrily. Never in his life had he felt so humiliated. He could capture hundreds of pirates but this one man seemed to be able to avoid him no matter what method he used.

"Ok. Please deal with the body according to protocol. I'll be sending in squad seven to help keep the peace."

"Is that not a bit too much sir? There are 1,500 members in that squad and this is only a small island."

"Are you questioning me?" The admiral was losing his patients. It was unheard of for anyone to talk back to him in such a manner.

"No sir." The man replied dejectedly. 'Cocha'. He put the Den Den Mushi back on the table. He shifted the papers around him, looking at the murder victims of this man. They all looked like normal victims of murder. Stab wounds, slit throats and bullet wounds, yet the man himself was anything but normal.

"Sir?" A knock was heard on the door, it opened to reveal a tall man dressed in marine attire.

"Yes, what is it?

"I have a letter for you from Aqua Vitae Island." The admiral rushed to his side and gratefully took the letter from the man, thanking him and allowing him the leave.

"Dear Chief Admiral Sengoku, this letter is a confirmation..." Finally. He would begin preparations immediately.

To be continued...

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**Hope you enjoyed it. Please review I'd love to hear what you think. Anyway next chapter the red-haired pirates show up woot. (No Mihawk yet but don't worry he's coming.)**

**Next chapter-**

_**She stood staring at a very frightened Taro. Now she used the frozen water and turned it into darts. Using a technique she had read about, she let the ice darts fly at him. Yasopp was about to shoot her, his gun at the ready.**_


	2. Chapter 1 The Rockstar

**Here's the first real chapter of my story. Please read and review. It would be nice to have some reviews. I know the first bit didn't really have anyone but my character in it so...**

**Anyway I'm making a rule that I'll only update if I get a certain amount of viewers or a review.**

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)  
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"I can't believe I have to do this. I'm a wanted man, it's humiliating." The young red haired man grumbled as he walked across the sand to the large town that was connected. He would do anything for his captain, that was no secret, but he loathed having to do things for the world government. He was a pirate, he didn't follow rules or laws, so why should his captain have to do what that admiral said. Granted it was for a good cause. One of their nakama had almost been killed by the madman that the government was chasing. His captain had decided to aid the government in getting rid of this man, to the surprise of his entire crew (except for the first mate and the sharp shooter.) Others had soon joined. Mihawk had shown his support by becoming even more serious that he normally was (if that was possible), Doflamingo had also shown interest, White beard had shown some interest but due to the issues between the admiral and himself he had not offered to help (though he had offered it to the other pirates, after all one of his nakama had been severely injured by the madman.)

"He said she'd been waiting at the tea shop on Panopolis street." He looked around at the wide cobbled road looking for any signs that may direct him to the woman's whereabouts.

"Hey mister. Are you lost?" A little girl with a high pony tail asked staring at him innocently. All the other people on the street gasped and began whispering to each other. He tried to make himself look fiercer while admitting to himself that this child may be his only chance.

"Yeah." He sighed dejectedly. How had it come to this? Asking for directions from a child, how far would his pride sink on this small expedition? "Can you tell me where Panopolis Street is?"

"I sure can." The child gave a large goofy grin, seemingly unfazed by the scary pirate that was facing her. The other occupants of the street did not look upon him so kindly, many had run off and others were hiding behind things, trying not to be seen. "You turn left at the end of this street, then right at the end of that street and then you'll be on the right street." He allowed himself a small smile.

"Thanks kid." He said while ruffling her hair.

"Hey!" Was her reply but it was too late he was already walking away laughing heartily at her protests. He wondered what type of person this woman would be. If she was working for the marines then she would probably be as straight and narrow as they were, in other words, boring. It did not take as long as he had presumed; the streets were wide but short. In less than five minutes he had reached the tea house. As he stepped into the tea house his heart sunk. There was no one there other than some teenage kid with a large bag. The girl looked to be about fourteen years old. It looked like she was in 'that' stage, although he could not criticise her, he had never left that stage. The girl let out a large yawn and flicked a bit of her purple hair out of her face. She leaned back stretching, her head rolled back and her eyes met his. Her eyes, they were so strange. They looked so young yet held wisdom in their piercing gaze. He would have liked for her to meet Mihawk, to let her stare at him with those eyes and see if they worried him. She began to stand up, flattened her dress and put on a long black and white striped coat with a hood. She lifted the bag off the floor, struggling a little at first before launching it onto her back. She began to make her way towards him, no, towards the door.

"You look very piratey for a marine." She said when she finally reached him.

"That's because I am a pirate." He replied somewhat angrily.

"Oh, well that's good then." She gave him a wide smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes. "Are you here to get me?" She asked.

"We try not to kill people." He replied looking even angrier and wondering if she had issues with paranoia. She let out a laugh that tinkled like a bell.

"No, I mean are you here to collect me." She said through barely stifled giggles.

"What for?"

"I guess not. I mean why would a pirate be working for the marines any way?" She let her bag hit the floor with a heavy thump. She dropped into the nearest chair and motioned to another for him. His pride was taking far too many hits today but he let it drop and sat with the teenager. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here... in a tea house?" He could see why she might be surprised after all he did not come across as a man that enjoys drinking tea or sitting in little tea houses and she was right he was not that type of man.

"I'm waiting for old lady Kimiya. You know her?" He saw her visibly tense... 'So she must know her' he thought. "Gotta collect her from here and take her with us. It's a pain really. I hate being the errand boy for those law abiding scum but the captain ordered it so I guess I'll be escorting this old bag." He saw her lip twitch as she began to visibly shake. He assumed it was laughter after all she had shown some anger originally to the name Kimiya. "Apparently the old bag's pretty strong, the marines are gonna get her to take down some mad man. So what are you doing here this early?" He asked in as polite a manner as possible.

"Me? I'm waiting here to be collected by a bunch of pirates, taken to the world government who have hired me to take down a madman." She said with a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Wow that's... NO WAY! You're old lady Kimiya?"

"I'm only twenty."

"No way! You look like you're twelve."

"Do you always do no research on people that you're supposed to collect or am I just a blessed?" She asked her voice raising an octave and becoming angrier.

"Huh? What?" The pirate seemed to become completely dazed by the whole experience.

"Let's start again shall we?" Kimiya asked, her anger was still pulsing through her veins, making her shake. "I'm Kimiya Lavethlyne from the Alchemists guild and you are?" The pirate looked to be struck dumb but after a minute he regained his composure and answered her.

"Rockstar of the red-haired pirates." She smiled, her anger ebbing away.

"Well we should probably get going." Rockstar nodded and stood from his seat but she remained where she was. "A-Am I really going to be fighting a madman?" She asked worriedly. Rockstar was not a man to pity anyone but staring down at the child in front of him, whose face was covered with unmasked fear was one of the few times he pitied anyone.

"You won't be alone." Was his reply. He smiled back at her but the girls face remained pointed at the ground, her tiny hands balled into fists. "It's not like they'll just send you in there, they'll give you all the information they have, I'm sure. I hate to say it but the marines aren't that bad." She smiled up at him and began to stand up bending down to get her bag. Before she could so much as touch her bag it had been taken from her. He lifted it onto his back and exclaimed in both surprise and discomfort.

"What have you got in here? An anchor?" She let out a laugh and shook her head in a child like manner.

"No it's just books. I have to keep studying so I can be the greatest alchemist in the world." Rockstar let a kind smile slip across his face, one reserved only for his nakama. He already liked this girl.

"So what do you study?" He asked as they made their way down the street outside the tea house.

"At the moment I'm studying how to make rice into sake but it's kind of difficult. I can make the sake fine but I'm not allowed to drink and I have no taste for sake so I don't know if it tastes right or not." She sighed in exasperation. "I guess when I read it I just thought it would be such a good idea that I didn't think about the possibility that I would never be able to know if it was good or not."

"Oh, I think the crew is going to love you." Rockstar smiled knowingly. An image of his captain's goofy child like grin came into his mind.

"How so?" She asked completely oblivious the red-haired pirates reputations as a bunch of miscreant party animals who could only be out drunk by whitebeard himself and even then it was a close match. She looked up at him waiting for his reply. It was only in the silent moments that she heard it. The people around her were gossiping about how cute she was, following a pirate like a little duckling, how small she was and how she only came up to his elbow. Rockstar had obviously heard it too because he started to visibly stiffen, how could this girl take away his scary reputation by merely being near him. People who had previously avoided him were now walking past him with no fear, jostling him and annoying him with their gossip. "I am never going to hear the end of this." He heard her whisper in defeat. He decided to just ignore them and put on his scariest face.

"The red-haired pirates are notorious drinkers." He explained. "So you're ability to make wine from rice will surely go down well with the captain... and the rest of the crew." She smiled widely.

"You think they'll appreciate me." She was literally jumping up and down with enthusiasm, much to Rockstars embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure." She let out a high pitched squeal of excitement. "Gee, what's your problem?" He asked her as her excitement rolled off her in waves.

"Well, when you become an alchemist you have to be prepared for everyone to simply use you and not appreciate anything you do. We are considered to be tools of both war and peace. We are used for others satisfaction and not our own. When you join the guild these become part of life, you cannot refuse what an employer wants. I have been lucky so far but some of my colleagues have even been forced to kill other alchemists for no reason at all." Rockstar looked shocked. He had never really believed that alchemists existed (then again the grandline was full of strange things and the new world was even stranger.) but to hear that they are forced to do things they do not want to do seemed almost inconceivable to him. "A lot of the time people fear us, I don't blame them. We change things from their rightful state to things that they shouldn't be. Having people appreciate us... it isn't part of the job description. So to hear that someone may appreciate something I have done..." She smiled widely at him and allowed him to finish the sentence in his head. This world truly was a strange place, who would have thought that people with magic existed.

*

"There it is." He said pointing to a huge ship docked at the harbour. Their feet slid across the sand. Rockstar picked up his pace, eager to get back to the steady rhythmic rocking of the waves. He wondered why he was not born as part of the sea life for it better suited him than being an animal of the land. He did not even notice it but he was taking faster, longer strides and Kimiya was skipping next to him desperately trying to keep up. "Is this your first time on a ship?" She shook her head.

"When I first became an alchemist... I was... a novelty, if you will, so many people from overseas hired me to do their work for them."

"Why were you a-."

"Yo Rockstar. Took your time didn't you? Where's grandma Kimiya?" Shouted one of the members of the ship. Rockstar could see Kimiya physically stiffen at the name 'grandma'.

"Taro, I don't think you should..."

"Who's the kid?" Taro asked completely ignoring Rockstar.

"This is..."

"You know I can't believe it. They send you out to get old woman Kimiya and you come back with some seven year old kid."

"Ok, fine." Rockstar heard Kimiya whisper, her body shaking violently.

"You know Taro you should probably apologise."

"What's all the noise?" Yasopp the sharp shooter came out of one of the cabins and asked.

"Rockstar brought back some kid instead of old lady Kimiya." Taro answered, laughing hysterically.

"Actually Kimiya isn't-" But Yasopp did not get time to finish. A large wave crashed against the side of the ship and as it did Kimiya used her alchemy to freeze it and launched herself onto it. Then using the thrust of the water under the small ice wave she thrust it into the air and jumped onto the ship. She stood staring at a very frightened Taro. Now she used the frozen water and turned it into darts. Using a technique she had read about, she let the ice darts fly at him. Yasopp was about to shoot her, his gun at the ready.

"Arggghhh." Taro was shouting loudly. At this many of the other crew members had come to witness what was proving to be a very amusing fight.

"Well I hope you believe that I'm an alchemist now Mr Taro." She smiled deceptively before launching herself off the edge of the ship, doing a forward air flip and landing milimeteres away from of a stunned looking pirate who was stuck to the door by carefully placed ice darts. "Oh and by the way. I'm not an old lady." At this the spectators began laughing at the rookie, Taro's misfortune.

"Well I tried to warn him." Rockstar said, slouching behind Kimiya.

"You can't even comment, at least he didn't say anything offensive." Rockstar blushed a little bit and turned away.

"Man that was awesome did you see his face when he hit the door." One of the crew members laughed making the others spectators laugh too. Some of them began doing impressions of Taro as he hit the door while others did impressions of Kimiya, making her look all cool and collected.

"No one can defeat me." The pirate who spoke the words did a strange pose before following it up with the gesture she did when the darts went flying and then a victory pose followed. This was one of the more imaginative impressions.

"Wow kid you've got style." The crew had somehow pulled her over to them and they all began laughing and joking with her. But all the laughter had attracted the captain and first mates attention.

"What's going o- Why is Taro stuck to my door?" The captain asked trying to look serious but failing miserably. The crew began to laugh hysterically.

"He called the hired alchemist an old lady."

"Old lady Kimiya is here?" Shanks smiled widely looking around to see if he could find the old woman but there was none. The crew that had surrounded Kimia began to part and move away from her. Revealing to Shanks a young woman, who was looking both smug and guilty at the same time. "You're old lady Kimiya?"

"I'm not old." Was Kimiya's reply. "I'm only twenty you know."

"No way! You look like you're about ten."

"No, fifteen at least."

"No, way twelve."

"I'd say eight."

"Wow you guys really don't do your research do you?" Kimiya sighed in agitation. The first mate smiled knowingly.

"Alchemists usually age at half the speed normal humans do." He said smiling at her.

"You make it sound like I'm not a normal human." She replied somewhat put out by all the surprised stares. "But you are right. We live two or more times as long as we would if we had never practiced the art of alchemy but at a price. Let's leave it at that shall we?" She asked. "I don't suppose I could have a cup of tea?" Kimiya asked politely.

"Sure." The chef shouted. "Milk and sugar?"

"Yes please and can I have fifteen sugars please?" The whole of the crew looked like they were going to pass out.

"You sure have a sweet tooth Kimiya obaa-chan." Rockstar teased.

"Erm... Can someone help me?"

"You know I feel like some sake." Shanks said walking towards the kitchen. "Prepare to set off and then we'll have a toast to our temporary nakama."

"Is anyone listening? "

"Hey maybe you could try that technique and see what the crew thinks." Rockstar said in a supportive manner. Kimiya blushed, she was not overly confident with her work but to have someone else test it before she did made her heart fill with fear.

"This is getting uncomfortable."

"I suppose so." Rockstar smiled down at her knowingly.

"Help!"

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**Ok that's all. Please review and I will update if I get a review(s) or a certain amount of people who look at the story.**

**Next chapter-**

_**"He also only attacked when he was close to us." This caused Kimiya to look up. If the man was an alchemist then distance was not an issue but to only attack at a short range. It either meant the man was intending to kill this pirate or that he wielded a Devil Fruit.**_


	3. Chapter 2 The Captain Rockstar Shino

**Ok so I caved I said I'd only add more if there were any reviews but I've nearly finished the first part and I was a little excited. I'm going to add two chapters this time so that I can get into the story cos at the mo there not even at the world gov hq.**

**Anyway please review. I really wanna no what you think. I'm a little worried incase Kimiya is a little too Mary-sue but she's not supposed to be.**

**Anyway here it is chapter three**

**Please review... please.  
**

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She had never seen anything like it. The entire room was like ordered chaos. Men were sprawled everywhere, having passed out from the previous nights drinking fest. Taro, who had been sulking in the corner, had fallen asleep there and one of the rookies had fallen asleep with their head on his knee. She gave a quiet giggle before exiting the room. She would come back for breakfast when they were all up and about. With several books in her arms she headed onto the deck and sat out in the sunlight. She began flicking through the book 'Miracle?' and after finding the rice sake transmutation formula she placed the book down. From her pockets she pulled out a pen and some paper and began scribbling down the notes and numbers to mimic those on the page in the book. Transmutations though easy could go very wrong if even one ingredient was off. Usually she would not be so careful but she doubted that killing one of the crew's nakama would get her in their good books. So she scribbled down the transmutation circles, symbols and ingredients. She then proceeded to the kitchen.

"You're up early Kimiya." The cook, Shino said.

"Well, you can't miss the day sleeping." She sighed in anguish, how she wished she could miss the day by sleeping. Her job was running her down lately. She was tired of the lectures and being told she was useless by her boss. It only made matters worse that she had not transmuted anything yet that day, her heart was racing and it was becoming painful to breath.

"What's wrong Kimiya?" Shino looked at her with worry in his eyes. Turning back to the food he was preparing, he turned the temperature on the hob down until the flame was barely flickering before escorting her to one of the few seats in the kitchen area. "Your heart I can feel it beating even in your arms. I'll call Ikuto immediately." As Shino was about to leave Kimiya closed her hand around his sleeve.

"Don't bother Shino I'm ok. Could I have some rice?" He looked somewhat surprised by her question but nodded dumbly and walked back over to the stove.

"I guess I'll just cook some for you then."

"No it's ok I just need rice." He stared at her shocked.

"You're going to eat uncooked rice?" He sounded concerned. "Have you... That is to say... are you pregnant?"

"What kind of question is that? No, I need it for a transmutation."

"A what?"

"I need it for alchemy."

"Oh." His relief was visible on his face but he still did not hand the rice over. "Should you be practicing alchemy in your state?" His eyes looked longingly at the door, hoping that she would let him leave so he could have Ikuto check her over.

"Alchemy is the reason that I'm like this but it is also the cure." His face was almost humorous, angled to the side like a confused puppy.

"What?"

"It would be too hard to explain it to you but allow me to do the transmutation and you will see the effects." The cook nodded in defeat. He pulled the bag of rice over to her and went back to his cooking in silence.

"Ok so we do the circle with the seven points." Kimiya drew the circle with chalk on the table, ignoring the cook's protests. "Then the water in the east, flame to the south, earth to the north and power to the west." She scribbled down the symbols and wrote a single letter in the middle of the circle. "Perfect. Oh, Shino do you have any sake containers?" The cook nodded, still feeling sceptical of her claim but did as he was told none the less. If he was honest he was interested to see what she was making and what would happen when she transmuted it. Most of the crew had missed the transmutation yesterday but Rockstar had admitted that it was indescribably beautiful but in an eerie way, that man's pride would never admit that something was eerie unless it truly was.

"Will this do?" He held out a hip flask to the young alchemist.

"This is perfect thanks Shino. Ok here goes." She began stuffing rice into the flask making the cook go mad with fury.

"Are you insane? We'll never be able to get it out now. You're explaining this to the captain."

"Relax. Besides when I'm done it will be liquid. Ok I'm ready." The cook waited with barely contained excitement and wonder. She circled her hands once, clapped them together and then thrust them onto the side of the circle, her eyes closed and her mind was focused.

'Slam' "Shino can I have some..." The captain stopped when he noticed the alchemist's presence in the room. "Kimiya what are you doing?"

"Captain, she's transmuting rice for some reason."

"Really?" Rockstar had entered after the captain, holding his head but upon hearing the good news had perked up. "I can't wait to try it."

"Try what?" The cook sounded a little put out that he didn't understand. Their eyes turned back to the youngest in the room. She had become enveloped in a soft white angelic light that raged around her like a fire, it looked as though one wrong move and it could kill her, burn her into ashes. It did not last long maybe half a minute. Suddenly the light seeped back into her and she let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Come and check now Shino." She said having not noticed the other two occupants of the room. The cook nodded and grabbed her wrist, lifting it and felt for her pulse.

"I-it's normal...?" She nodded.

"Alchemists naturally store massive amounts of energy, which is why we live twice your life times but it also means if we don't use up that energy we die." All the occupants in the room gasped, alerting Kimiya to their presence. "You were watching me?" Her face became red with embarrassment.

"You made sake?" Asked Rockstar moving closer to her and looking at what was now a clean table, no chalk drawings and no excess rice.

"Yeah... but I don't know how good it will be." Rockstar pulled it away from her and lifted the flask to his lips.

"Only one way to find out right obaa-chan?"

"Choke." Was her only agitated reply.

"What is this stuff?"

"Is it that bad?"

"No, it's just I've never tasted anything like it... it tastes... it tastes..."

"Pure." The captain said after taking a swig of the sake. "This is perfect!"

"Huh? I didn't think it would be that good..."

"I'll take ten... no twenty barrels."

"Captain we don't have enough rice." The cook explained. The captain's shoulders sagged like a kicked puppy. It was one of the few times that Kimiya had wanted to hug a grown man and shout 'How cute!' after all Red haired Shanks was a notorious pirate he was anything but cute. But right there and then he looked like a sad little boy.

"I'll make some when you get some more rice... ok?" She asked.

"But I really wanted the rest of the crew to taste it." He really was just a big child she decided.

"I guess I could make a little more from this rice and then you can give them a bit?" How had she gone from a first class alchemist to being a mediator for this child like man? He nodded and left the kitchen merrily. Just outside the door she heard him yelp in pain as he realised his hangover still existed and was not fond of being forgotten.

"Told you it would be good obaa-chan." With that Rockstar left, clutching his head as well.

The holy land was not far from Aqua Vitae. Three days travel would get the crew and Kimiya there. With one and a half days passed Kimiya was beginning to feel the stress of the job that she would be doing. She spent almost all her time reading, in the company of other crew members, desperately trying to find different techniques that could help her in the fight against the madman.

"Calm down. You're an alchemist this should be easy for you, right?" Kimiya scoffed at this comment.

"You're a pirate it should be easy for you." She countered at Rockstar who was sipping some sake she had made earlier.

"We tried. The dudes totally insane and fast. If the captain had been there the dude wouldn't have stood a chance but it was just me and some of the rookies. One of them got hurt pretty badly."

"Really? Is he still on the ship?" She asked excitedly.

"Sure. He's in the infirmary." Rockstar answered suspiciously.

"I'll go and talk to him right away." And with that the young alchemist was gone.

The infirmary was larger than she had expected, with then bleach white beds in a line down the left hand side of the room. There was only one man in the room. He was sat up in bed eating an apple and reading a newspaper. As he heard her quiet footsteps approaching his eyes looked up. He masked his fear well by pretending he was shivering when he jumped but she saw it for what it was. How could someone scare a pirate this much?

"Hi, I've come to ask you about-."

"The attack, I know." The pirate replied bluntly. Kimiya simply nodded.

"I'm Kimiya Lavethlyne it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I know." The pirate replied once more.

"So do you think you can help me out? Mr..." The alchemist asked worriedly.

"There's not much I can tell you." The pirate replied.

"I see." Kimiya's shoulders sagged visibly as she felt the fear of the unknown course through her once more. It reminded her of the first test she had to pass to become an alchemist. She had practiced her alchemy for weeks only to find that the test was not on alchemy at all.

"I can tell you a few things though." The pirate said, softening to her troubled face. "The guy was fast and I mean inhumanly fast."

"How fast would you say?" She asked, sitting down next to the patient.

"I couldn't see him when he moved. He would have been on the other side of the ship and he got to me and behind me in about three or four seconds." She gasped.

"So the probability that he's an alchemist just went up by thirty percent." She whispered to herself.

"The guy was pretty out of it but for a guy who was mad he was unbelievably clever. Any weakness we showed was exploited immediately." Kimiya nodded, pulling out her pen and paper and jotting down these notes. "He also only attacked when he was close to us." This caused Kimiya to look up. If the man was an alchemist then distance was not an issue but to only attack at a short range. It either meant the man was intending to kill this pirate or that he wielded a Devil Fruit rather than alchemic skills. "He didn't speak either. Throughout the whole fight he never grunted or anything. What was worse was we couldn't even land a hit on him." The pirate looked upset at himself and began to get angry.

"Enough." Kimiya said soothingly. "If the guy was an alchemist, there is absolutely no chance you would have landed a hit on him no matter what you did. If it was a Devil Fruit user then his speed was obviously his strong point. Do not trouble yourself. What matters is that you are alive and well." The pirate did not look convinced but nodded his head to please the young alchemist. "Thank you so much for your help." She bowed to him shyly. "I will do all I can to stop this man. I can't promise that I will win but I will try." The pirate smiled. He did not like the girl all that much, after all she was an alchemist, but her words struck a chord within him.

"Be careful." He mumbled.

"I will." And with that she went dancing out of the room with the notes in her hand. Boy was she lucky that she had brought 'That' book.

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**Dun Dun Dooon. Anyway next time she actually gets to World Gov HQ exciting. Anyway even tho I'm adding the next chapter anyway heres a snippet of it.**

**Next Chapter- ** _"No, now is the perfect time. As long as I don't have salary and a time limit I don't work for you. You should know this if you contacted the guild. An alchemist works for anyone who pays for them, if I was you I'd get the contract in immediately after all what if that madman offers me a job?"_

**Please Review**


	4. Chapter 3 The madman

**Hi so this is the next chapter. Kimiya and the pirates finally reach the gov HQ and we find more about the murderer dude.**

**Please review, tell me what you think.  
**

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She spent the remainder of her time on the ship reading through her books and absorbing as much as she could. The time that she had free was spent with some of the rookie pirates, Shino and Rockstar. The pirates made her feel calm while her books gave her a sense of fear and foreboding. As a first class alchemist she knew that this feeling should not be ignored and so she spent her days going over everything she would need multiple times and then practicing them as best as she could. Some of the harder transmutations she was unable to practice, these were the skills that worried her. She knew from experience that not practicing every transmutation to perfection before a battle could be fatal not just for her but for those around her. As the third day rolled by lazily and the Holy land came into view she began to feel sick with fear. This was now a matter of life or death.

"Well we're here, might as well get this over with before I kill one of the law abiding-."

"Don't forget as long as they're employing me I'm one of them." Kimiya said to an irritated Rockstar.

"Yeah yeah I know but you ain't anything like those squares." Kimiya laughed. He had a point. Freedom was what she desired more than anything in the world and to her the marines were a chain tying people to the ground. She preferred them over the alchemist's guild and she could see how helpful they could be to those who did not want endless freedom. Maybe with the protection of the admiral she could acquire the freedom she desired.

The Holy land was basically a big white building jam packed full of marines and a few pirates. After a select few of the crew (the captain, the sharpshooter, first mate, the head chef and Rockstar) had made their way inside the building they were escorted to a large room. The room was filled with a large table that had thirty chairs scattered around it. There were three people already in there as they entered, all of them marines. They looked in disgust and fear at the pirates that entered but said nothing. Kimiya could hardly believe that anyone could look at the fun loving red-haired pirates in such a way. She had to admit she was bias after all she was a temporary nakama and was treated as though she had always been a part of their large drunken family. The next person to enter was a man wearing what could only be described as musketeer cosplay. He carried a giant sword on his back in the shape of a cross, wore a long black coat and a hat with a white feather in it.

"Hawk-eye." The captain said with a silly grin on his face. The 'Hawk-eye' visibly groaned and nodded his head in acknowledgement. He then proceeded to sit a respectable distance from Captain Shanks. Next a strange man wearing oddly shaped sunglasses and a very feathery coat entered. He looked cockily around the room, as though he had not just entered through the window. He then waved his hand at one of the three marines in the room. The marine looked shocked as he got up, waltzed round the room and attacked the other marine.

"It's not me." He was saying to the other. Kimiya looked shocked for a second before turning to Ben, the first mate and asked:

"Is he an alchemist?" Ben shook his head before answering.

"I haven't heard anything about it, why?"

"Well it's just I thought only alchemists could control people's blood flow." Ben looked slightly shocked and worried.

"No. He ate a Devil's Fruit." She nodded. It made sense though why she did not think of that before alchemy she did not know. Rockstar who had been listening to her intently paled at the mention of controlling blood. After the strange devil's fruit man had sat... on the table, another pirate made an appearance. He was a giant of a man, his chest was puffed out and he was held up with stubby legs. He wore a hat with ears on it and a jacket with a strange logo. But the strangest thing about the man was a giant Bible held under one arm. Carrying a Bible was not what made Kimiya think he was strange, it was the fact that he was a pirate with a Bible. Granted not all pirates were bad but if a pirate abided by the laws of the Bible then surely they would not fight, murder, steal and do illegal things for personal gain, these were the things (excluding murder) that made a pirate, without these they would just be people with boats. The man with the Bible stood leaning against a wall away from everyone and began flicking through the large book.

"I see everyone is here." A man said from the door. He wore an admiral's jacket on his shoulders and a uniform with medals. He had a long beard that was plaited and by his side was a small goat. Upon his head was a large seagull that was staying unnaturally still. Kimiya tried desperately not to laugh, who on earth was this strange little man? She wondered. He moved over to the table and sat next to an old woman that also wore a marine's uniform.

"Red-haired captain Shanks," The strange man regarded the red-haired captain with a look of general disgust and disapproval but the captain either did not notice or ignored it and smiled back at the man, although in a slightly more reserved way than Kimiya was used to. "Where is Miss Kimiya Lavethlyne of the Alchemist's guild?" He asked, eying the captain suspiciously.

"Right there." He pointed to Kimiya who smiled politely back at the man and bowed her head in respect, much to Rockstar's displeasure. As he was about to make a comment about how she did not need to bow to 'Marine scum' she kicked him under the table with as much force as she could muster, making him breath in heavily to stop from shouting out in pain.

"Enough. This is serious. Where is the real Miss Lavethlyne?" Kimiya pouted making her look more like a child than ever and rewarding her with a look of complete and utter hatred from the strange man.

"I would not lie about something so serious." Replied Shanks, his voice lacking in its usual happiness but not cold or hateful either.

"You want me to believe that a child is one of the most powerful alchemists in the guild?" The man laughed loudly and spitefully but before he could finish Kimiya had taken the letter she had received and handed it to him, giving him the coldest eyes she could muster, while placing a fake but threatening smile on her face.

"If you do not believe me I have no problem with going home." She replied to the man. He skimmed over the letter before paling noticeably.

"You have been in the alchemist's guild for twelve years." He said, looking at the letter.

"Yes." She said, confirming his beliefs or in this case disbelief.

"And you are, what fourteen?"

"I'm twenty, I suggest next time you do research if you are that worried about the age of your employee." She answered with fake politeness that dripped with sickly sweet kindness. There was a mumble from the three marines in the room as they worked out the easy maths of when she joined the guild.

"So you joined the guild when you were eight?" The man asked incredulously. The pirates who had not been paying attention turned and began listening.

"Yes but I've been practicing alchemy since I was five." There was a collection of intakes of breath before the room fell into silence. The man huffed in anger. "Look if you want proof." She took Rockstar's necklace from him (which was not appreciated) and turned it into a small knife, then turned it into a metal swan, then a replica of Rockstar himself before transmuting it back into the necklace (much to Rockstar's relief) and handed it back to him. "Proof enough or do I have to transmute the entire table and chairs or even the room if you would like?" She asked sarcastically. She watched as several faces in the room stared at her with shock and admiration. 'Hawk-eye' stared at her piercingly before nodding in what she liked to believe was approval.

"We've wasted enough time." The strange man said. Skipping the apology and pretending the whole incident did not happen. "It's time to get to work."

"Actually before we do that we have another matter to discuss." Kimiya stated, obtaining all the attention in the room once more. "My time limit and my salary."

"Now is not the time." The man said angrily.

"No, now is the perfect time. As long as I don't have salary and a time limit I don't work for you. You should know this if you contacted the guild. An alchemist works for anyone who pays for them, if I was you I'd get the contract in immediately after all what if that madman offers me a job?" She held back a snigger as the man tensed, looked at her incredulously and then sighed, his shoulders sagging.

"The letter tells you how much I will pay you."

"No, the letter says, and I quote 'I wish to hire you for a period of blank weeks, months, years. I intend to pay you blank Beri for your service.'" The man sighed.

"A hundred Beri a day?"

"You're joking? My life is not worth that shrapnel."

"Fine, two hundred." She sighed and stared at him with a gaze that could scare an angry bear. "A-a million Beri an hour." He said desperately without thinking. She smirked.

"Done." She replied before he could take it back. "I will work for you until either I die or the mad man is dead or imprisoned. Of course if he is an alchemist you must allow the guild to attend to his punishment accordingly. Agreed?" The man remained angrily stunned but nodded bluntly. Rockstar was sniggering under his breath and the other marines were staring at her with hatred. "I haven't had any work in half a year what do you want from me?" She said under her breath but a few of the pirates caught it.

"The man has killed thirty people that we know of." The old woman said. She held a hidden admiration that was pointed towards the young alchemist across from her.

"Do you have photos of the bodies?" Kimiya asked, becoming instantly more professional. The woman nodded and passed over a folder that had been tucked under one of her thin arms. Kimiya flicked through the book, the bodies had reports next to them. They contained information such as how they suspected they had been killed, where the body had been found, who had found it, any clues that had been left. "These all seem normal to me. Gunshot wounds, stabbings, bleeding to death, slit throat." Kimiya knew for a fact the man was not normal but playing dumb was one way of milking people for information about a case. "Why go to all the trouble of hiring an alchemist for this?" She asked the old lady.

"I cannot explain it without seeming unprofessional." She explained. "But there is something about him that feels wrong." Kimiya nodded.

"Number one in the alchemist's code never doubt a strong feeling." She said quietly looking at the pictured. The old woman was right something was off about the murders. "Have you done autopsies?" She asked, comparing two pictures as she did.

"Why bother?" The strange man asked. He still harboured ill feelings towards her, though she did not blame him after all she had gone into business woman mode and strong men tended to dislike being told off by a stronger woman.

"Do you have any of the bodies here?" She asked. The old woman nodded. "Good have an autopsy done immediately. If there's more than one body have it done on them too."

"Why?" The man asked again.

"One of Mr Shanks' men (Shanks blushed at this, he began feeling older than he should.) told me that the man had been inhumanly fast but hadn't attacked at a distance." The man shrugged not seeing a relationship between the two. The other occupants in the room shared similar looks of misunderstanding apart from Ben who did not understand it fully but was on the same trail of thought as Kimiya. "This would usually be very strange. Common sense tells us that if you have a gun you shoot at a distance and only if you have a weapon that does not have projectiles do you get up close. But Mr Shank's subordinate did not mention any weapon at all. The man got up behind him but did not try to shoot him or stab him." She looked at Rockstar for confirmation and he nodded. "So this would suggest that he killed these people before these visible wounds appeared."

"That's impossible." The man stated angrily. "How could we miss something like that?" Kimya decided to take a different approach realising the man would not allow the autopsy to take place until he fully understood.

"Have you ever heard of an alchemist leaving the guild?" She asked him.

"No. What does this have to do with anything?"

"Plenty of alchemists leave the guild, there were at least twenty this year. Some became pirates, some just wanted to be with their children." She said sorrowfully. "Tell me have you ever found an alchemist's corpse?"

"We found twenty this year." He replied nonchalantly. Ben took a shocked intake of breath in realisation.

"What did they die of?" She asked.

"Being shot, stab wounds, suicide, normal things like that. What does this have to do with anything?" One of the marines had caught on now and so had 'Hawk-eye.'

"When we sign our contracts we agree that we will never leave the guild and if we do we must be prepared for the consequences. So tell me this how would the alchemists assassinate other alchemists without alerting the world government? There are several ways but the easiest is to scorch the alchemist's insides, making them hollow and killing them in the most painful way and after they have died make it look like it was just an everyday murder." The man paled, turning a grey colour before he ordered one of the marines to have the medical staff perform an autopsy immediately. The pirates remained silent, less confident in their skills than they had been when they entered.

"How did you know?" The old woman asked. Guessing that the young alchemist would be right.

"The first rule of being an alchemist is to always follow your gut feeling. It was also relatively easy after all, the bullet wound would have killed the victim but some of the other wounds wouldn't. And of course alchemists need to know everything so that they can perform any job but also so that they can know their enemy." The old woman nodded proudly. The man smiled slightly, his eyes speaking of a truce, she nodded in affirmation and in understanding. "Tell me where are the places this man has been most noticeable?" There was silence for a few minutes before the man began to speak.

"Al-Kimia and Paracel. Currently he's in Jabin Hayyan." Kimiya put down the paper she was looking at. Those names rang warning bells inside her head but why? In her mind she flicked through billions of pages worth of knowledge until her mind's eye fell upon one page in one book. The book had been entitled 'Myths and legends of old alchemy'. It was a book she'd read before she joined the guild, maybe she was six or seven at the time but she still remembered the wonder she felt when her eyes came upon those words. She bolted up right, scaring everyone at the table by her fast as lightning moves.

"Get me every single clue you have. Anything that was left at the murders even if it seems irrelevant, bring it to me immediately." She said to the young marine whose friend had been sent off to oversee the autopsy. "How many people are in Jabin Hayyan currently?" She asked the old woman and the man.

"There are five hundred people living there." The woman answered.

"And I sent 1,500 marines to keep the peace."The man said proudly. His face fell when he looked at the alchemist. She looked like she had been told she had seconds to live. She scraped a hand down her face and sunk back into her chair in defeat.

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**Ok so you know the drill hope you enjoyed it please review and...**

**Next chapter-**

_No matter how powerful the alchemist equivalent exchange always applies but not when you have the stone. It would be more than possible to freeze all the water in the air and crush the entire population with it, freeze the sea, kill people without being anywhere near them. The stone is both amazing and terrifying."_

PLEASE REVIEW


	5. Chapter 4 Jabin Hayyan

"When was the last time they contacted you?"

"Just before I came here." He asked no questions, feeling she had proved herself enough.

"Oh thank god." She made a transmutation circle over her heart with her hand in a form of prayer that was often used by alchemists before a hard mission or battle. "Do they know you hired me?" He shook his head. She began smiling hopefully. "Good evacuate everyone immediately. It doesn't matter so much as long as there are less than five hundred people on the island." The man nodded and pulled out his Den Den Mushi.

"Why?" The old woman asked politely. Her face showed general bafflement. She looked apologetically at the young alchemist but her eyes pleaded for an explanation.

"It is only a myth but myth or not it had to come from somewhere. On Al-Kimia and Paracel there lie two of the greatest treasures-." All of the pirates who had shown general uninterested up until now became interested once more. "For alchemists." They all looked away again. "The rumour is that on Al-Kimia there is a cave full of the rarest metal in the world, you might have heard of it, hermephatite. It is unbelievably soft but nothing can break it. It can take any form that the user wishes. It can change its state by will alone, air, liquid, solid, it doesn't matter the metal will comply. On Paracel it is said that there is a river that is blood red and one drop of the water can prolong life by fifty or more years. If you dip an inanimate object in it can allow it to hold all the power in the world if need be. And finally if you take the metal dipped in the water to Jabin Hayyan, a spiritually closed off place and sacrifice more than five hundred people, the more life the more power. You can make a philosopher's stone."

"I don't understand." Rockstar commented. "What can a stone do?"

"By the laws of nature alchemists are bound by what we call equivalent exchange. You get what you give back basically. Now while this is generally true in all cases it is not completely true. Like the sake. It is an easy recipe but more goes into sake that just rice and dried rice would surely never make good sake. This is where our power comes in. The more power you have the more you can do. A rookie couldn't make sake but someone who has been training and gaining more power can. So imagine that you sucked 2,000 people's souls into one area. Their souls would gather their daily power which is not as much as an alchemist but usually about half as much give or take seven grams. That stone sucks in all of the power but it doesn't need to get rid of it like we do which means it just grows more and more powerful. No matter how powerful the alchemist equivalent exchange always applies but not when you have the stone. It would be more than possible to freeze all the water in the air and crush the entire population with it, freeze the sea, kill people without being anywhere near them. The stone is both amazing and terrifying."

*

Finally it was done. The man stood back and looked at the large circle that span the entire perimeter of the small island. He then began walking into the village. He had always been a melodramatic man and liked to follow the rules of the theatre. He would wait until midnight before he performed the greatest transmutation the world would ever see. He was going to be the most powerful man in the world. His first call of business when he made the stone would be to find her.

"The admiral told us to pull out immediately."

"Yeah, I know but they won't come with us."

"Just get off the island, I'll deal with them." The two marines were talking to each other, watched by the terrified eyes of three children. Did they know what he was planning? Even if they did not he needed a lot of power to work the stone. He needed to be feared by all if he was going to control the world and everyone in it.

*

"M-miss Lavethlyne," One of the marines ran in. His face was pale and sickly. His eyes stared at her widely, fear beneath the depth of dark blue irises. "You were right. The body was hollow on the inside." His face became paler at the mere mention of what he had seen. "As were the other bodies." She nodded at him.

"Go." She said to him simply and the marine took off like a shot to get rid of the sickness he felt. Kimiya's face fell as her eyes looked at the table in front of her. "This is grave indeed." She said softly but everyone around the table heard. "We must leave as soon as possible. We need people to help us who have knowledge of both long range and short range attacks." There was a nod and a murmur of agreement. "If you will permit me I would like to choose who comes with us." She looked at the old lady and the strange man. He nodded in confirmation and she carried on. "Doflamingo, you would be valuable to us because of your devil fruit ability but how strong are you?" She asked in honesty.

"How dare you!" The pirate said angrily. "I am a captain!"

"I do not doubt that you are strong but against a man with inhuman speed how would you fare? Do you have knowledge that would aid us?" The captain looked away, thinking for a moment before he nodded and confirmed that he knew the way of the sword and how to shoot a gun very well. "Good. Mihawk?" The strongest swords man looked at her before nodding.

"I can only use a sword but I can do both long range and short range attacks."

"As I expected." She whispered. "Kuma, you would be perfect due to your size. Will you come with us?" The bear of a man nodded silently. Doflamingo huffed indignantly at her instant acceptance of the bear. "Shanks?" She asked the one armed man. He nodded his head. "Good. Then you should each choose your strongest crew members that you think will fare well in this battle. But do not underestimate this man. If he is an alchemist he has only been toying with his victims. This is a matter of life and death." The men all nodded and dismissed themselves to collect their teams. As they left Kimiya sank into her chair. She was terrified. This man was playing with pirates and marines like they were children. She was strong, no doubt but she had to ask herself, was she strong enough to take down a powerful madman who potentially had a philosopher's stone? The answer to that would be no every time. If only she had declined the offer, stayed at home safe and sound.

"Miss Lavethlyne, this is the evidence you wanted." The marine she had ordered to collect the clues said. He placed plastic, sealed bags on the table in front of her.

"Thank you." The man nodded his head, smiled and left. "Ok so what do we have here? Some paper, a misshapen bullet, a piece of cloth and a picture that's ripped into tiny bits." She began by transmuting the paper. It was pretty much blank except for four words. "Still living. Blood stone." She whispered into the paper. Next she tried to transmute the picture but massive bits were missing leaving a headless body with a pigtail sticking out of the side of the empty hole. What she guessed was a man stood next to the headless girl but he had an eye missing and his mouth and nose were not there either. All in all it had been a waste of her energy. "Great." She mumbled.

"Having trouble, Miss Alchemist?" Mihawk asked. He was leaning on the door frame in a cool and collected manner that she could not understand. How was he not afraid of certain death? "We are ready to depart." He said bluntly, pushing himself off the wall and leaving the room. Kimiya stood and ran after him.

"How many days does it take to get to Jabin Hayyan?" She asked the pirate as he strolled away from her.

"It will take ten hours if we go by the Marine passages." She decided not to waste time asking why he called them that. Instead she was enveloped by sickening fear. In ten hours she would face a madman. She had already earned four million beri she did not want to die and lose it.

"Where was the admiral?" she asked Mihawk. He turned to look at her and smirked.

"He was the man you spoke rudely to." Kimiya was sure she would pass out from embarrassment. If her boss ever found out about this he would surely give her a lecture she would never forget. Not that she forgot any of them, emotional scarring was hard to get rid of.

*

Jabin Hayyan was a beautiful place and under any other circumstances she would surely have loved to explore the rural island. The beach was as white as the fluffy clouds above and the mountains surrounding the village that the island revolved around were green and lush. Life seemed to flow through the island, wrapping itself around it and making it prosper. The logical side of Kimiya's brain told her that it was because it was spiritually closed off. All life's energy naturally got trapped there and of course as energy did, it would jump into the nearest living things, these being trees, plants, grass and animals. Though the island was beautiful it was also eerie, with no inhabitants. Kimiya was expecting a ghost to appear any second and scare her back home.

"So what's the plan?" Shanks asked the group.

"We pummel him into the floor and leave." Doflamingo said confidently getting ready to leave the Marine vessel.

"You'll be lucky if you can land a hit." Kimiya whispered thoughtfully.

"What was that?" The strangely dressed pirate asked angrily. "Just 'cos you're a kid doesn't mean I won't kill you."

"You realise we're not fighting another pirate, don't you?" She asked him. The pirate looked at her as though she was stupid. "This guy must have a lot of power and I already know he's faster than any of you. We will have to form the perfect plan. If we fail there will be no second chance. The only rules are to stay away from him at all costs, use long range attacks and travel in groups." She said. She looked at each of them individually, making sure that they understood. "Ok this is how it's gonna go down. I'll use myself as bait, Rockstar will come with me." Shanks did not look happy about this but Kimiya raised her hand for silence regardless. "The rest of you will circle around him, blocking his exits off and you will slowly close in on him. Stealth is the key here. If he hears you anywhere he will attack. Keeping him from escaping is our main priority."

"I don't feel comfortable letting you and one of my men be bait." Shanks said sternly.

"Don't worry Rockstar won't be fighting." She answered and began grabbing various items, one being a large red and black metal ball.

"Then- then what use is he?" The captain looked baffled.

"He's a smart man he'll work it out for himself. Ok if everyone's ready let's get-" She suddenly stopped, her eyes drawn to the sole occupant of the island.

"Bwahahahaha. I knew you'd come, I knew, I knew it didn't I." The man laughed loudly, swaying from side to side. His laughter suddenly stopped as he turned slightly to the right. "Can you reheat mine for me honey I'll be at work late tonight. No. I will. Love you too. Good night." He suddenly turned back to the ship as though he had not been talking to thin air. "I knew you'd come. I told him, I told them all. Bwahahahaha." The man had completely lost it. The crew of mismatching pirates and the alchemist all stared in wonder and loathing. But Kimiya was staring at him more intently, less hatefully than the others. He looked so familiar to her and yet not at all. His dark purple hair that was greying in areas, his tanned wrinkled skin was so familiar; she almost knew how it would feel under her skin. He opened his eyes wide and began laughing more manically than before. Even his voice, though full of madness now seemed almost like a distant memory etched into her young mind. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. This man. Of course she knew him how could she forget. He was the one who had told her about the alchemist's guild, he was the one who praised her first transmutation, he was the one who had gone missing thirteen years ago and he was the one she used to call-

"Papa?" All the pirates turned to her in shock.


	6. Chapter 5 Papa?

"Papa?" All the pirates turned to her in shock.

"Papa?" Doflamingo asked incredulously but Kimiya ignored him.

"W-Wan-li?" He shouted in disbelief and excitement. She knew that she looked like her mother but for her dad to call her by her mother's name was slightly disturbing and also nice. "They told me you were dead Wan-li! Why?" He became angered and started attacking everything in the nearby area until the houses were flattened and the trees had been knocked down by his earth shaking transmutations. The pirates all looked shocked and slightly on edge.

"No papa it's me, you remember right? Kimiya?" He looked puzzled before looking up and smiling.

"Oh that's fantastic Kimi-chan, it looks just like Mummy. Did you make it yourself?" He was recounting the first transmutation. She knew that the man they were chasing had gone insane but putting a name to a face and finding out it was him... her heart felt like it would rip in two. If she went against the wishes of the marines and the alchemist's guild she would be dead before the end of the week. She had no choice but to kill him. Why her? It was as though it had been planned by the irony gods to smite her. "I'm sorry who are you? Kimiya! I don't know who you are. I knew you'd come!"

"I thought you were dead." She said to him, hoping for an honest, slightly sane answer.

"Like they could kill me," He laughed hysterically. "I know too much! I know where it is, I got it and soon everything will be mine! No theirs." He corrected himself. "Yes theirs. We will kill everyone who does not have our blood! We will rule the world me and you! No they will. Yes it's theirs."

"This guys off his rocker." Mumbled Doflamingo.

"Will you be ok?" Shanks asked Kimiya, worry evident on his usual smiling face. She nodded mutely.

"It's my duty to take him down and stop the killings. Even if- even if he's-" She stopped speaking and turned away. "I'll keep him busy, the rest of you get into position." She then proceeded to jump off the ship followed by Rockstar.

"Oh, Kimiya. What are you doing up this late?" He asked her, looking like he would when she was seven. Staring at her with those caring fatherly eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him. The space between them was vast but closer than she was comfortable with.

"I'm going to bring her back! Then me and her will rule this world the way our kind was supposed to. But you promised to give the stone to the guild. It doesn't matter they won't kill me, they can't." He began laughing manically.

"Papa, mom's body has already rotted and her soul has gone. There's nothing you can do with or without the stone."

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" He began attacking her viciously, trying to get closer. Running behind her and throwing himself at her. She dodged all of his attacks but with difficulty, he had no tactics, no patterns, he would just look for an opening and take it. Rockstar began to creep forwards, ready to attack.

"Get back!" She shouted at him, angry that he had not heeded her words earlier.

"I'm a wanted man. I can protect myself!" He countered. She jumped away from another hit and climbed into the leaves of a fallen tree and out of the other side.

"I don't care!" She shouted back. Dodging a transmutation aimed at her back. "Just stay there and watch."

"Stay there and watch. Stay there and watch." The man began to chant. He was trying to anger Rockstar, obviously knowing she would protect him if he did anything rash.

"Shut up!" Just as the madman predicted Rockstar attacked angrily. She ran and blocked an attack with her platform shoe. The madman looked even angrier now. He hissed like a snake and began jumping around her, ready to strike her the second she moved. She quickly pushed Rockstar away, knocking him to the floor, forward flipped over the madman and pulled out the red and black metal ball she had been carrying earlier.

"It's been so long. So long. So long. Too long." The madman sung happily. "Since I've fought an alchemist. Bwahahaha. I'm going to kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Hey Kimi-chan don't be sad because when you die I'll use your soul to destroy everyone." He started laughing manically once more before launching himself at her. He managed to get close enough to touch her, to kill her, before she jumped away. He'd managed to burn a bit of her dress and her skin over where her heart was but she'd survived. She transmuted the ball into a scythe and began swinging at him.

"Missed me, missed me now you've got to kiss me." He sang like a child. Jumping onto the outstretched scythe and using it as a launch pad. He got close enough to touch her again, his lips puckered so he could kiss her.

"That's disgusting." She heard Rockstar mutter, still sulking that he could not be part of the action. Oh how she wished that their fight could be so simple that the kiss was some sick joke but alas alchemic warfare was much more frightening than that. She knew her father was famous for some trick she did not understand the logic of. Fire breathing. Allowing him to kiss her would be allowing him to burn her from the inside out. She flipped over and managed to get the scythe over his head, in a place that would easily slice it clean off with a simple slip of the wrist.

"Kimi-chan, please don't do this to papa." He said in the voice he used to use. She lost her composure for a second. Forgetting who he was, what he had done. She quickly remembered and prepared to kill him. However a second was all that he had needed. He ran over to her and placed his hand over her heart. The realisation had kicked in with the touch and she had quickly tried to dodge but to no avail. The pain was horrific. She doubted she had ever felt pain like it. She could hear somebody screaming and someone else's voice calling out her name... Rockstar. It hurt so badly. That's all she could think, the pain. She could not see. He ears were ringing from that persons screams, she wished they'd stop, could they not see she was in pain? She could taste blood in her mouth.

"Kimiya! Kimiya!" Rockstar was shouting. "Get up! Get up! Get up now or you'll die." She did not want to die. She was too young and yet right now dying did not seem so bad. She felt like she was on fire, burning to death. How she wished death would take her like the soft tide, so that she would feel it no more. She was so tired. Maybe if she slept for a little while the pain would go away. In the distance she could here manic laughter... she could not remember whose. She was so tired. So very... tired. So... very... tired...

*

"What was that?" Shanks whispered to his two companions, Mihawk and Ben. The sound continued. It sounded like...

"Sounds like screaming." Ben said, suddenly becoming alert to everything around him.

"Get up! Get up! Get up now or you'll die!" The sound was unmistakably Rockstar shouting at what now sounded like Kimiya's screams.

"We need to help them!" Shanks whispered loudly. Mihawk was faster than the quickly departing Shanks and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"If we give away our location now all her work will be in vain, is that what you want?" The impassive man asked. Shanks, seeing reason, shook his head and proceeded cautiously in the direction they were headed before the screams started. The sound continued to fill the air for a few minutes and then suddenly stopped and was replaced by laughter. Shanks was once again filled with the need to protect his nakama. Ben feeling the same way began quickly following his captain. "Stop this idiocy. Did you not listen to her? This man is dangerous. One wrong move could get us ALL killed." Mihawk decided that stressing 'all' might remind the powerful man that Rockstar and Kimiya were not his only nakama that were in danger. They both nodded, though not as sure as the last time.

*

"_Kimiya? Kimiya have you seen your father?" The woman asked, running to the little girl playing in the flowerbeds. The little girl shook her head. "It's been four days now... I hope he's ok."_

"_He got a strange letter from work." The little girl told her mother casually._

"_What kind of letter?" Her mother asked, bending down so that the little girl could look her in the face._

"_Well it wasn't really a letter just a bit of coloured paper but papa seemed to think it was real important 'cos he said he had to leave immediately." The little girl's mother broke down on the floor sobbing._

"_No, no. Why? Why did they do this to us? How could they? He was doing his job? This is a joke. Yes, it's a joke. He'll come home smiling and laughing saying 'sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to be late.'" But he never did come back home._


	7. Chapter 6 Equivalent exchange

It still hurt but she could feel energy coursing through her like electricity. She kept her eyes shut, listening for his location. She could hear him stepping towards Rockstar. She needed to stop him, Rockstar had to watch and he could not fight no matter what. If he died her plan would be ruined and they would all die.

"You bastard!" She heard him shout. Her hand twitched, gripping the scythe tightly. One more try, right now one more attack was all that she could manage. She had to make it matter otherwise it would be game over for all of them. Even if it just injured him it was better than nothing. She needed to be fast, if he knew she was going to attack then he would defend himself. She tried to relax. Pushing herself onto her feet silently she crept behind her father. Silently pulling the scythe back, lifting one foot. She spun herself as fast as she could into the man. Of course he was too fast and grabbed the blade before she had chance to cut him. Exactly what she expected. Quick thinking was not her strong point when she was frightened. She dropped to the floor and transmuted the earth to grab the man's feet.

"Interesting." The man whispered as the earth snaked up his legs, griping them and crushing them. "But hardly enough." She then made all the earth around him into spikes, pointing them at him, ready to kill him with one. "Boring." He muttered. She was running out of ideas. The area was sparse of anything helpful. "I was hoping this would be more fun... you are so young though. You'll never know the excitement that fighting brings." His grin widened. She had one option left. She let the earth transmute back to the way it had been previously and dropped her scythe.

"I cannot win." She whispered in defeat. "I'm sorry. But what about a deal instead?" The man who was quickly approaching halted.

"A deal?" He asked.

"If I lose here I'm going to die anyway whether you let me live or not." The man nodded in acknowledgement of this fact. "Then I will give you my life willingly. We both know an alchemist's soul is more powerful than those souls you were going to use. And if I give myself up willingly it will only strengthen the stone." The man nodded smiling excitedly.

"In return for what?" He asked, obviously itching to kill his daughter.

"You let everyone on this island leave uninjured and you do not kill anyone with that stone."

"NO!" Rockstar shouted angrily. "Don't you dare do this! Don't you dare die on us!" He was so angry that he was shaking.

"Don't you understand? We will all die if I don't do this, this is our only chance. No matter what happens I will die anyway." She smiled serenely at her friend... no her nakama, in front of her. "Equivalent exchange don't you think?" She whispered. The madman was still pondering her offer.

"I accept." She nodded, opening her arms and exposing her heart to him. The man smiled kindly, in a way her father used to. No this man was not her father. He began walking forwards; slowly so as to make sure she did not have any desperate tricks planned.

"Please rethink this Obaa-chan! Kimiya!" Rockstar shouted. There were many things that happened in the seconds that passed after he shouted that. The pirates, who had been closing in slowly for a few minutes now had finally reached them and blocked off all the madman's exits. Rockstar had shouted and told them all what was happening. Shanks, Ben, Yassopp, Kuma and Mihawk had all ran towards them ready to attack just as the man's hand reached her heart. The second he reached out to her she had enveloped him in a hug.

"Goodbye Papa." She whispered. She could feel his hand burning her.

"No!" The approaching pirates shouted in anger. The second their voices rang out she did what would probably be her last transmutation. Bone transmutation. She turned every bone in her body into a spike and pointed the ones that would reach towards her father's body.


	8. Chapter 7 The two worlds

Her arms were so tired and yet she wanted to touch the surface. She was falling through water, falling and falling, further and further down. Her body was numb from the cold the watery abyss brought her. She could almost see the cold light of the world above her and yet below her was a new world, a warmer, kinder world. Her mind swirled with the possibilities, the needs, desires and wants that she had that the cold world above her could not grant. She sank further towards the new world. She was almost there, at the opening of a warm cave, a light welcoming her, as if to tell her that she was home. The gate began to open and she floated forwards. Her hand reached out for the gate.

"Obaa-chan." A voice called to her from the cold world above. As the voice broke through she felt the soft heat of arms around her. "Obaa-chan, why?" The voice did not sound sad, only questioning. 'Why?' She wondered. 'Why what?' She felt her head being lowered onto something warm abd the feeling of soft fingers through her hair.

"She was only a child." The sadness in the voice made Kimiya's eyes turn towards the surface above. Her body was now rising away from the warm cave. Her hands grabbed frantically at the gate of the cave but to no avail, she was too far away from the gate to anchor herself on it. Her body rose further towards the surface, the voices becoming painfully loud and the light becoming unbelievably bright. Her eyes closed and she moved her head away from the light, the movement hurt, she could feel the pain running throughout her entire body, it felt like every inch of her body had been pierced, though she could hardly remember why.

"Obaa-chan? She's waking up. Obaa-chan!" Kimiya moved her head slightly, her body moving as she did so, causing her to hiss painfully.

"Stop shouting." She croaked at Rockstar who was currently laughing loudly with the other pirates. Rockstar turned back to the alchemist, a worried look on his face.

"You were going to die you know." He told her. Honestly Kimiya knew, she knew the second she used the transformation alchemy. "You knew didn't you?" Though Rockstar did not need an affirmative answer only a reason.

"I knew."

"Why?" He whispered. "Why did you do it?"

"I had to. If I had let him live he would have told the alchemists that I knew."

"So you kill the both of you."

"I would rather die on my terms than his." Was Kimiya's defiant reply.

"You would have made a good pirate... well other than the attempting to commit suicide part."

"I didn't... oh never mind." Kimiya croaked in annoyance. Rockstar hugged her to him and as he did so Kimiya got a good look at her surroundings. She was in Benn's room on the Red Force. "How long was I..."

"Only a week. Sengoku won't let us leave until you debrief us." Kimiya sighed.

"Does anyone else know I'm out of commission?"

"Just the alchemist's Guild." Kimiya sat up quickly, her wounds pulled at her painfully and she quickly toppled back over.

"Who told them? What did they say? Are they sending a representative? What's going on?"

"Sengoku told them, he told them about the bone thing that you did. They were really nice, they said they'd send a representative to pick you up and take you to a rehabilitation facility."

"Oh my god, what am I going to do?" Kimiya began to panic and Rockstar stared back at her confused. "When did they say they were coming?"

"About lunch time today." Kimiya's eyes grew larger and fear was evident in them. "What? What's wrong?" Rockstar asked, already familiar with her expressions.

"Bone transmutation is a criminal offense, they're sending their representative here to punish me accordingly."

"And what would that be?" Rockstar asked, his voice too low and far too soft.

"Forty days of torture and then death."

"That's barbaric."

"That's alchemists." She replied. The sound of footsteps outside the door could be heard as one of the crew men walked by.

"That alchemist is late." The man mumbled as he walked by.

"Reo!" Rockstar shouted, the loud noise caused the young alchemist to cringe. The heavy wooden door opened with a creek.

"Yeah?" The man asked, standing in the door way looking annoyed.

"Tell the captain we need to leave now."

"Humph, you tell him."

"Kimiya is in danger. The representative is being sent to punish her for doing something illegal."

"Pshh, what punishment is it?"

"Death." Rockstar said ominously. Reo walked away, letting the door slam behind him and headed in the direction of the captain's quarters. A soft voice called from the deck.

"I'm here to see Miss Kimiya." The entire ship fell silent as the soft footsteps of the woman walked towards Benn's cabin. The swung open with a mighty bang and the alchemist stared inside.

**And it's finished, finally. There may be a sequel which may take as long to finish as this one has.**


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